


Wake Up

by kelpie_flavored



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Terminal Illnesses, implied happy ending at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-07-17 15:42:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16098710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelpie_flavored/pseuds/kelpie_flavored
Summary: Karkat has some shitty sickness getting him down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please mind the tags!

Karkat has been acting... weird. He wanted to get out of bed less. The bags under his eyes were getting bigger. He was becoming way too pale to be healthy for a troll. He couldn’t rant and yell as much as he used to without his throat getting sore and his voice being scratchy.

At first, Dave thought it was just some mild shitty sickness. Something that could be rested off with enough time and patience, maybe a little medicine. But as time went on Karkat’s health just got worse and worse. It had gone on for maybe three weeks now. It was concerning.

One morning, Dave woke up to Karkat barely breathing. His breaths were slow and he was wheezing. Dave tried to wake him up after listening to him for a bit. Dave heard loud, terrible coughing and saw Karkat open his eyes. He only looked half-there. “Da-?” He’s interrupted by a coughing fit. His voice is raspy when he talks again. “Dave? Wh’ is it?” He sounds like he’s having trouble breathing. “Dude are you, okay?” Karkat looks off into space for a second, he seems to process what Dave is asking for a solid minute before answering. “I, I don’t really know.” He weakly coughs. Shit, that’s not good. 

“Karkat, you haven’t let yourself rest in a really fucking long time, how about you sleep today?” He’s usually busy writing dumb romance novels or hanging out with you or your friends, but he needs to sleep today. You really hope sleep can fix something in him, if not everything. You really hope sleep is what he needs. He stares at you for a little bit before mumbling something like “not even tired” and closing his eyes. He seems to drift off immediately. See? Just needs sleep. He’ll be fine. Dave decides to fall back asleep too. Good thing god tiers can’t get sick. 

Dave wakes up to Karkat coughing and wheezing and the sound of him choking. Dave sits up quickly. He sees red. A lot of fucking red. Fuck, no no no. Karkat is coughing up blood, his eyes are glazed over. “Karkat? Karkat, fuck, no, fuck fuck fuck.” He gets Karkat to sit up against the headboard of their bed. He’s still coughing blood. Eventually it stops being blood, just red tinted saliva. Dave looks up at Karkat. He’s still breathing, thank fuck. “Kat? You okay? Speak to me, man.” Karkat is mouthing something, he can’t make it out. “Please, dude, talk. Just talk? Please?” Karkat tries to focus on Dave, his gaze is clear for a second, then he collapses. 

No. No no no no. Karkat’s chest has stopped rising and falling. He’s not breathing. No. Dave sits there in shock. This just must be some troll thing. Something Karkat never learned about troll adulthood or something. Something he just forgot to tell Dave. Karkat isn’t dead. Some dumb fucking illness can’t kill him. He’s lived through so much worse, this couldn’t hurt him. Karkat’s fine. _Karkat is fine._

-

It takes a few minutes for Dave to admit to himself that Karkat isn’t fine. That he isn’t going to wake up.

He doesn’t want Karkat to leave him like this. He wanted to be able to say something sweet to Karkat before he died. He didn’t want Karkat to die. He just… 

He let Karkat die.

-

It’s another few minutes before Dave decides he needs to tell someone. 

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

TG: rose  
TG: rose please answer me  
TG: god damn it please fucking answer  
TT: Dave, it’s only been a few minutes. Why are you in such a hurry to get my attention?  
TT: Nevermind, I have a better question.  
TT: Dave, what’s wrong?

What’s wrong? How could she be so put together? How the fuck? How, how, how how-

TG: hes gone  
TT: What?  
TG: karkat is dead  
TG: hes fucking dead rose

Dave is sniffling, choking back sobs.

TT: You’re sure?  
TG: rose he was coughing up blood and hes fucking limp now  
TT: Shit.  
TT: Did you check his pulse? His breathing?

He isn’t breathing, but. Dave. Dave hasn’t checked his pulse. He feels some sort of relief wash over him. He scoots back over to Karkat, who he tucked into bed (not creepy, not creepy) and puts his fingers on the side of Karkat’s neck. He waits for a minute. And another. And another. He feels his breathing become ragged as he realizes there’s nothing. Not a single beat, not a breath, not even a little rise. Nothing. 

Dave sits back and sobs into his hands. There’s nothing, there’s fucking nothing. It was stupid for him to even hope there was anything, wasn’t it? Karkat’s gone forever, he should just accept it. He’s gone. Dave can’t even fucking do anything without ruining the timeline and everyone else’s lives.

TT: Dave, are you there?  
TG: theres nothing  
TG: im so stupid  
TG: im so fucking stupid  
TG: i knew he was sick and i just let him push himself  
TG: i shouldve asked for help  
TG: he wouldve still been alive if i wasnt such a fucking stupid idiot  
TT: First of all, Dave, you’re not an idiot. Don’t do this to yourself.  
TT: And I have something that I believe I need to tell you now.  
TT: Roxy has been working on trying to recreate the quest beds in case of something like this happening.  
TT: It’s entirely possible that they won’t work, but I thought you’d want to know.  
TG: you can bring him back  
TT: It’s not a 100% guarantee, but yes, there is a good possibility that he can be brought back.  
TG: fuck  
TG: holy shit  
TT: I’ll talk to Roxy.  
tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

It’s not a guarantee, but it’s something.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tell me your thoughts :]

It doesn’t take long until everyone takes charge. Karkat’s body is taken away, and that’s for the best, really. It’d only hurt Dave’s mental health to be around Karkat’s rotting corpse all the time. His friends say that they’re going to freeze it until it’s time. Dave is okay with that. (He just wants to look at Karkat one last time, pretend he’s alive, everyone tells him that it’ll only hurt more.) They replace the sheets on his bed (the mattress too, it’s all just soaked through.) Dave sleeps.

-

 

Dave stews. Nothing’s felt right since Karkat’s been gone. He starts spending his every waking second watching old romcoms that Karkat loved. And if left to his own devices, he would’ve just done that until it was time. That is, of course, if his friends hadn’t made it their mission to get him out of bed and back into the world of the living. They all forced him to eat food, and shower, and hang out, and do all the things he would’ve normally happily done if Karkat was still around. They have to force him to realize that (hopefully) things will be fine.

-

 

It takes a few weeks for Rose to notify him that Karkat’s quest bed is ready (it feels like years, years away from Karkat, he can’t stand it). The text is such a fucking relief. Dave barely remembers anything from it except the date and location. The world feels like it’s finally righting itself again. He’ll finally see Karkat again. 

Dave takes and deep breath and knows everything is going to be okay.

-

 

Today is the day. 

It almost feels like a ceremony of sorts (and isn’t that a grim thought). Everything is out in a field. Everyone is decked out in their full godtier garb. There’s a giant quest bed lying in the middle of the fields of grass, marked with the symbol for blood.

Everything feels fine until Dave notices Rose and Jade carrying out a large coffin.

Dave doesn’t realize he’s staring emptily until he feels a hand on his shoulder and startles, jumping back. John looks apologetic. “Dave, are you-” Dave does his best to calm his breathing, but he feels like he’s going to suffocate. “I’m fine, bro. This is just, fuck.” Dave puts his hands under his glasses and wipes his eyes. John pats him on the back. “I think I need a moment to myself.” John nods like he understands (and shit, he kind of does with his dad and all) and flies away to go talk to other (less depressing) people.

It takes a while for everyone to get there, but finally (finally) Rose pats him on the shoulder and tells him to come with her. He’s led to the coffin and his throat closes up. “Do you want me to get Kanaya?” She whispers. Dave can only nod. He’s not strong enough to hold Karkat while he’s still like this. 

Dave watches from a distance as Rose gestures her wife over, talking quietly to her. Kanaya has this horrified look on her face, but nods solemnly once she catches the look on Dave’s face. He watches her walk to the coffin. He looks away as she begins to open it. He only wants to look once Karkat is finally here, okay, in his arms. Of course, Kanaya has to call him over. He needs to be here for this, greet Karkat when he wakes up (and everyone knows Dave is going to cry on Karkat’s shoulder once he’s actually back). 

Dave stares at Karkat’s lifeless body in Kanaya’s arms for a few seconds before he feels sick from looking at all the blood. He needs Karkat back. “Please.” Kanaya nods towards him and gently sets Karkat down on his quest bed. Dave can feel himself tremble in nervousness. 

-

 

And.

He’s not waking up.

This must be- this  _ is _ a doomed timeline. He’s not waking up.

Karkat’s not fucking waking up.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO.

-

It takes a few solid minutes for everyone to pull him away from Karkat’s corpse. Roxy is doing her best to console him, to figure out what went wrong. Dave needs away. Now, Now,  **Now** .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to scream at me ;]


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, please check the tags before reading the chapter!

Your name is Karkat Vantas and you are so confused right now. Dave is hugging you. He isn’t normally a huggy person, so why is he doing this now? You might have yelped, you were startled, okay? “Dave? Uh, are you...okay?” It takes a second for him to let you go and you see him wipe his eyes under his shades. “Fuck, dude, I-I’m,” his breathing sounds pained. “I missed you so much.” You barely have time to process anything before the question comes out of your mouth. “Missed me? Dave, are you okay?” It’s then you notice just how different your boyfriend looks.

He’s wearing his god tier clothes, he hasn’t worn them in a while. You had to help him stop because while they were a comfortable and self-cleaning, he needed some *real* clothes to establish some sense of normalcy in his life. Dave’s hair is also… longer than it should be. You know this only because when it gets too long he normally freaks the fuck out for some reason. Dave- *this* Dave, has had something bad happen.

Dave laughs nervously. “Uh, shit, I should probably explain myself.” It’s then that the door to your room is flung open. “Kat, you okay?” Right, you kind of screeched like a wiggler earlier. Dave catches sight of- well, Dave, and they stare at each other for a while. “What happened, man?” Dave- *your* Dave asks. Other Dave drags his hands down his face, “a whole fucking lot man, we need to talk about Kitkat.” Should you leave the room? Other Dave notices the look on your face, and he’s like a mind-reader. “It might be better if you stay for this, actually, we have a lot to talk about.”

 

-

 

It takes a bit for other Dave to actually want to sit down and tell you why he’s here. He seems surprised every time he catches sight of you for some reason, though. “Okay, so, uh.” He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Karkat is, going to get uh, some stupid fuckin’ sickness within, like, the next few days. Or at least show signs of it. I don’t actually uh, hah, know how he gets it, or has it. But he does.” Other Dave spaces out for a second on you. “So, you need to tell Rose, or Roxy, just- tell someone that it’s happening. Uh, Roxy is, I think, honing her skills around right now to try and recreate the quest beds.” Another deep breath. “It turns out you need to actually die on your quest bed to come back…” He spaces out again. Dave looks tense beside you. 

He speaks up now. “So, what- what are you saying here, dude?” His chill tone is forced, he’s sitting in a position that is clearly very uncomfortable. “What exactly is up with your Karkat.” Other Dave wrings his hands, he looks mildly distressed trying to find his words. “He’s fucking- he’s dead. He’s dead.” Other Dave is shaking. You don’t need to look at your Dave to know he is too. You’re- you don’t know. How do you deal with your own death? 

“So, yeah. Uh, if Karkat starts waking up in coughing fits, fucking do something. I was too much of a coward or just fucking stupid to actually do anything. I just let him fuck himself up like that.” Other Dave is doing his best to not meet your eyes, does he think you’re going to be angry at him? Seriously?! You could fucking _ ****never**** _ be angry at Dave for this. Is he seriously blaming you dying on himself? Both Daves seem to be out of commission right now. You lean over to other Dave and hug him. He tenses up for a second before relaxing, then the shaking gets worse. His head is on your shoulder and you can feel his tears leak into your sweater. “Shhhhh, Dave, it’s okay. Shhh.” You pap him and he sniffles. “‘M sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

It takes a few minutes of shooshpapping for other Dave to compose himself. “I- I don’t want to leave, I want to stay here for a while.” He whispers. You and Dave share a look, you both know what will happen when he goes back. Other Dave curls in on himself. “Love you, Kat.” You hug him closer to you. “Shhh, I know, I love you too.” You keep papping him, he needs it right now. 

After another minute of this other Dave stands up. “I, I should go now.” He sounds tired, worn out with everything. You pull him down to you and kiss him one last time. A sad smile stretches across his face. “I love you, Kat. I wish I could just, leave that easily, but this is… sorry. I should go.” The smile drops and with that he disappears in a flash of light, traveling far, far away from here. It’s painful to see him gone.

Dave looks at you. “You’re going to live, for his sake and ours, you’re going to live.” His voice sounds scratchy and scared, but you can hear the promise he’s making to himself. You **are** going to live, no matter how much how much he puts himself through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> scream at me in my tumblr inbox, i dare you.

**Author's Note:**

> tell me if you see spelling errors or if anything is weirdly worded!
> 
> my tumblr is @aloesnake!


End file.
